Doing Wheelies

Things have been pretty quite at the Penguin Colony....colony - what a poor name for a group of amazing birds.  After all, there are very imaginative names given to groups of birds. Murders of Crows, Parliament of Owls, Unkindness of Ravens, Ostentation of Peacocks, Convocations of Eagles....why even a group of ducks has the interesting identification of being refered to as a Paddling when in the water.  I am thinking that a group of Penguins needs a more festive name, after all they are always well dressed. What about a Tuxedo of Penguins, or a Parade of Penguins ... when the the water they could be a Flight of Penguins.

But I digress... I have not had much time to create lately.  Summer is finally here and spending time outside is taking precedence over clay.  Sunshine is rare here and I want to savor every moment of it I can.

I did get a chance to experiment a little with an idea I had. They did not turn out to match exactly what I had in mind, but I was not too unhappy with them.  Still working out exactly how to turn them into jewelery.

Big dots on right, smaller dots on left. Not sure yet which I like best.

Prototype of an earring type I am working on using my wheelie beads.

The Lady or the Beast?

Ok, so a cow doesn't *exactly* fall into the Beast category. Maybe the Minotaur..... but I suppose that is stretching it a bit.

Mokume - you never know what will show up with the next slice of the blade.  I didn't even see these patterns until I was sanding.  Now I have to decide which way to wear it.  I might be able to put a hole in it if very careful....

I used to have Fingernails on my Right Hand

I hate to sand.... really, I HATE it.  So when I discovered that Julie Picarello sands all her lovely creations, I was dismayed.  I was fortunate enough to take her Mokume class several years ago, and really loved the look I got, but sanding was just not something that I was willing to do.

 Then her book came out and I, being the collector of as many polymer related tomes as possible, just had to have it. This time though, the book did not linger on the shelf for long.  I cranked up the old PM last Sunday and created a bunch of veneers. Took me all week, a bit at a time, to finish them.  And last night after work, I sat down with a pan of water, my sand papers in varying grits, and actually sanded!!!! I know, took me by surprise too.  I must say though, that I really like the smooth texture that it imparts to the clay. 

I can't really say that I like sanding anymore now than I did before, but .... well, it is not as bad as I once thought, considering the outcome.

Here are a few pieces that have not yet decided what they will be when they grow up. I call them Pretty in Pink (I warned you all to bear with me while I get this naming process underway)

Life's Ugly SIde

It has been a while since I blogged. I would like to say it was because I was busy creating but unfortunately life has poked its sometimes ugly head  where it is not wanted. 

Normally I want to focus on my art and love of polymer but I need the catharsis of talking/writing about the bad that lets us appreciate the good.  Two sides of the coin of Life.

Our beloved Underfoot, Prince Pippin, became extremely lethargic several weeks ago,  At first we thought it might be the heat as summer had finally arrived, but when he would not sit in front the fan we put in the window (he has ALWAYS had first perch for this coveted position), we knew that something out of the ordinary was going on.  A trip to the vet confirmed the bad news.He has kidney disease and was in pretty bad shape

So over the last few weeks we have learned that our docile baby boy can be a real fighter when it comes to having pills and vitamins (even in liquid form) popped down his throat.  We have learned how to give a kitty IV infusion (he really HATES that) and have gotten really good at finding all his hiding places.  We have learned to appreciate every purr and head butt to "pet me, please" . We don't even get upset any more when he wakes us in the morning by touching his paw to our nose because it means he is hungry and might eat more than a dollop of food (he needs to gain some weight which is hard since he really doesn't like the kidney diet he is on.)  

Here he is enjoying a rest on his favorite soft spot.  He loves looking out the window laying on his comfy perch. 

You don't mind if I shed all over the place, do you? Maybe you can knit something out of my hair, hum?